And with the weather playing its own tricks and creating confusion across the grid, MotoGP’s race direction gave Autosport an inside look at how it all spiraled out of control. So, let’s take a look at what really happened.

What many didn’t know is that the chaos actually started with an unexpected twist: 45 minutes before the race, the safety car crashed into the barriers. While that incident didn’t directly affect the race itself, it definitely set the tone for what was about to unfold.

When the pitlane opened before the scheduled start, the track was still damp from earlier rain. Riders had a five-minute window to do a few laps through the pitlane before lining up on the grid. Things were already tense at this point — and then Fabio Quartararo crashed during his warm-up.

But the real shift came seven minutes before the start, when conditions suddenly changed. The rain had stopped, the sun was out, and the track was drying quickly. That left most of the grid in trouble, as their bikes were still set up for wet weather, with rain tyres fitted.

A few riders, like Brad Binder and Enea Bastianini, took a gamble on dry-weather tyres, hoping the track conditions would keep improving and give them an advantage during the race.

Then came the controversial moment when Marc Marquez decided to switch bikes. A now-viral clip shows him sprinting to the pitlane while everyone watched — creating a domino effect as nearly half the grid followed suit.

And that’s where things got complicated. Marquez and his Ducati team misunderstood the rules. Race director Mike Webb explained the reasoning behind the regulation:
“We’re just not equipped to reshuffle the entire grid at the last second if multiple riders change bikes. It’s not safe, and it’s not practical,” he told Autosport.

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With so many riders and bikes changing their minds in the final moments, the situation got completely out of control. That’s why, for safety reasons, race direction made the bold call to wave the red flag and stop the entire starting procedure.

However, that decision wasn’t without controversy. The red flag reset everything — wiping out the advantage for the riders who had already committed to slick tyres. Webb admitted that a simple “start delayed” message might have seemed fairer, but with the pitlane in chaos, it would’ve been nearly impossible.

“We felt a red flag and a complete restart was the safest and clearest choice,” Webb said. “Trying to reshuffle the grid at that point would’ve taken us right back to the kind of confusion we had in 2018.”

In the end, the Austin GP will be remembered as one of the wildest race starts in recent MotoGP history. And for Mike Webb, one thing is clear:
“What happened in Texas was unlike anything we’ve seen before. But it showed us that our rules need to be clearer and simpler — not just for teams, but for everyone involved.”